While non-importers patiently wait for the next domestic Taiko Drum Master release
to support their drum peripherals, Namco is forging ahead with the 8th iteration of the series in Japan, this time with
a little help from Mario and friends.According to GameBrink, "Taiko no Tatsujin 8 will be arriving this March in Japanese arcades," and it will feature cameos from other game publishers like Nintendo (with the Mario theme song and characters as seen above) and Square Enix (with a Slime song from Dragon Quest II and the overture from DQVIII) to try a little rhythm action as well.
While it's doubtful that Mario and company will ever find their way onto a Sony home console, there's always hope for a third-party slime to find a musical home on the PS2. If the Dragonball theme song can make it onto the American Taiko Drum release, then Square Enix's arguably better themes should be able to, too. Alas, Mario will have to settle for percussive appearances via the GameCube's Donkey Konga series.
[Thanks, Tim Tong; image taken from Watch Impress]
